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The Attitude Era
The Attitude Era was a period in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, known now as WWE) and professional wrestling history that, according to WWE, began some time in the later half of the 1990s. The company ceased usage of the official "WWF Attitude" logo – first used in November 1997 – in May 2002. The era was marked by a shift to more adult-oriented programming content, which was accomplished in a number of different ways; including an increase in the level of depicted violence and the incorporation of sexually suggestive, horrific, or otherwise politically incorrect characters and storylines created for shock value. Similar to the 1980s professional wrestling boom, the Attitude Era was a surge in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States as television ratings and pay-per-view buy-rates saw record highs. The era saw several wrestlers rise to stardom, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Kane; established star The Undertaker continued his main event prominence, as did fellow veterans Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Vader, Sycho Sid and Ron Simmons in the early stages of the era. James Harrison was a wrestler who debuted early in the era rose to international fame winning three World titles during the era. Wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Big Show, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero – who were unhappy with their employment in rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) – jumped ship to WWF to ultimately become headliners for the company (Big Show and Benoit having previously been world champions in WCW). Other prominent Attitude Era performers who later became world champions in WWF were Edge, Jeff Hardy, Bradshaw, Christian and Mark Henry. Distinguished stables were established in this era, such as D-Generation X, The Nation of Domination, The Corporation, and The Corporate Ministry who all developed major rivalries among each other during the time period. The era saw a resurgence and boom period in tag team wrestling with prominent teams like The New Age Outlaws, The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, Edge and Christian, Too Cool and The APA achieving superstardom and being featured in prominent storylines and matches during this time period. In particular, The Dudleys, The Hardys and Edge and Christian featured in several Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches which were also introduced during this era, Edge and Christian's success led to the legendary stable The Empire of Pain. Top female stars such as Sable and Chyna achieved mainstream notoriety and even competed against male performers. The era also saw an increase in the McMahon family's on-screen presence, starting with Chairman Vince McMahon's 'Mr. McMahon' character, a heel persona of himself following the Montreal Screwjob, with his son and daughter too eventually being introduced into WWF storylines as fictionalized villainous versions of themselves. Since the end of the Attitude Era, and in particular since 2008, WWE has done away with much of the adult-oriented programming content introduced during the Attitude Era and returned to more family friendly programming. Overview While the WWE Network shows the December 15, 1997, episode of Raw is War as being the first from the Attitude Era, the "WWF Attitude" logo was introduced at Survivor Series over a month beforehand on November 9, 1997. WWE themselves have stated that this event in fact marked the beginning of the Attitude Era, but have also given the King of the Ring on June 23, 1996, and WrestleMania XIV on March 29, 1998, as the starting point. The company ceased its "Attitude" promotion on May 13, 2002. On that date, usage of the initials "WWF", which were prominent within the logo, became prohibited as the result of a legal battle between the company and the World Wildlife Fund over the rights to legally use those initials. World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. officially became World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) and replaced its "Attitude" promotion with a "Get the F out" marketing campaign. The Attitude Era proved to be a huge marketing success for WWF, drawing in a previously unaccounted for young adult demographic that allowed them to successfully cripple their competition, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), by defeating them in the ratings war. Within two years, WCW had become so unsuccessful that it lost its primetime television deal. During this same period, WWF had become so financially powerful, that McMahon was able to buy the company's trademarks, logos, copyrights, video archived library, and several wrestler contracts from AOL Time Warner at a dramatically reduced valuation. Initiation 'The Shawn Michaels–Bret Hart feud' 'The Shawn Michaels–Undertaker rivalry' 'Mike Tyson and WrestleMania XIV' Stone Cold Steve Austin 'Birth of Austin 3:16' 'The Austin–McMahon feud' The Rock 'The Nation of Domination' 'The Corporation' 'The People's Champion' The Undertaker 'The Brothers of Destruction' 'The Ministry of Darkness' James Harrison 'The Empire of Pain' 'The Demon' 'The Brothers'